Tag: recipe

February 21, 2015

Watch your back Tim Horton

I’m going to call it before you do. I am a tiny bit cheating in this post. Back in November my housemate Vicky and I made Bonfire Night doughnuts. It was an epic feat of baking, one I vowed not to repeat for a very long time. That is, until my teacher at college had a birthday last week and I took to the kitchen again to make a maple themed bun in honour of his Canadian homeland.

So I confess. Given that doughnuts are a touch on the complex side, I’ve repeated many of the photos from November. It’s a lot easier to get snap happy when there’s a spare set of eyes to watch the pan of hot oil, so don’t judge me too harshly friends.

I urge you to give doughnuts a try some day.

You will need

For the doughnuts:

350ml/12 fl oz Warm full fat milk

700g/1lb 8 oz Strong white bread flour

2 Eggs

70g/2.5 oz Unsalted butter

100g/3.5 oz Caster sugar

1 tsp Salt

14g/0.5 oz Dried yeast

50ml Warm water

For the filling:

300g/10.5 oz Icing sugar

125g/4.5 oz Unsalted butter

175ml/6 fl oz Maple syrup (as good as you can afford)

1 tsp Maple extract (don’t panic if you don’t have this or can’t find it, I lumped for a caramel extract in the end, and you could leave it out altogether)

For the glaze:

100ml/3 fl oz Maple syrup

100g/3.5 oz Icing sugar

25g/1 oz Unsalted butter

Extras

1.5 litres/50 fl oz Vegetable oil for frying

Sprinkles (these bronze ones are from Waitrose)

A flavour injector or piping bag with long thin nozzle

(Makes 25-30)

Step one

Put the yeast in the warm water and wait until frothy.

Step two

Combine half the flour with the rest of the dough ingredients (including the yeast froth).

Put the yeast and the salt on opposite sides of the bowl so the salt doesn’t prevent the yeast from doing its thang.

Step three

When the batter is smooth, gradually add the rest of the flour and stir.

The dough will be sticky but not impossible to work with. Having said that I still gave the work top a significant dusting of flour.

Step four

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.

Knead for about 10 minutes, don’t worry if you have to add more flour to stop it sticking but don’t add loads and loads.

Step five

Pop it back in the bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave in a warm dry place for 60-90 minutes or until doubled in size.

Step six

Once the dough has finished rising turn it back out of the bowl and roll out into two long strips. Cut into 30 equal pieces.

Step seven

Roll the pieces into balls and leave on a lightly dusted (with flour just in case that wasn’t obvious) surface or tray to prove.

Step eight

You’ve probably got time here to make the filling and the glaze.

Essentially for both you just need to whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl. I can’t even make that sound remotely more complicated.

Step nine

About 20 minutes after the proving has started put the oil in the pan on a low-medium heat. Definitely don’t rush this stage, it will take a long time for the oil to come to the right temperature but patience is key.

Test your oil heat with little pieces of a dough. When this tester floats and bubbles straight away you’re good to go.

Step ten

Cook your doughnuts. I did this by eye, but I reckon it only takes about 30 seconds to a minute on each side.

Leave your doughnuts to rest on a few sheets of kitchen roll which will soak up any excess oil.

Step eleven

Once the doughnuts are completely cool, fill them with the maple buttercream.

My flavour injector has measurements on the side, so I went for about 10 ml in each. If you don’t have that luxury, practice piping an adequate amount of filling out so you know how much pressure to add and for how long to fill them properly.

Step twelve

Place the glaze in a deep cereal bowl.

Turn the doughnuts upside down and dip them in the mixture. Sprinkle some, well, sprinkles, on top.

Step thirteen

Stand back and survey. You just made doughnuts my friend.

February 16, 2015

Flat as a pancake

Sorry, what’s that? IT’S PANCAKE DAY TOMORROW? Or maybe if you read this on a Tuesday it’s pancake day today. Or maybe if you’re reading this in a few months time pancake day is nowhere nearby, and if that’s the case there’s nothing stopping you from making pancakes anyway. Especially when they taste THIS good.

I don’t think there can ever be enough pancakes, so I bring you not one, not two, but three recipes this week. And with three recipes comes three gifs. I know, I spoil you.

My fellow Europeans will have to excuse me for edging towards the North American style of pancake (you can add more flavours this way, but I assure you I’m still a die hard fan of our traditional flat friends). Those of you across the pond will also have to excuse me for not adding sugar and melted butter and all that nonsense to the mix.

These are a hybrid, somewhere half way between. Maybe this is what happens in Iceland or Greenland, who knows?

Enough ramble. LET’S. GET. FLIPPING.

Who am I kidding? I’m far too anxious to flip them.

You will need

Apple, maple and bacon pancakes

1 cup Plain flour

1 cup Full fat milk

1 Apple

1 Egg

1 tsp Baking powder

Bacon and maple syrup to serve (adjust to your own preference)

White chocolate and raspberry pancakes

1 cup Plain flour

1 cup Full fat milk

1 cup Raspberries

1 Egg

1 tsp Baking powder

100g/3.5 oz White chocolate

50g/1.5 oz Dark chocolate to serve

Banana and blueberry buttermilk almond pancakes

1 cup Plain flour

1 tub Buttermilk (284ml)

1 Egg

1 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Almond extract

2 Bananas

1/2 cup Blueberries

More blueberries, some natural yoghurt and honey to serve

NB: The process is the same for all three recipes, however, the banana ones use buttermilk instead of regular milk. This makes a much thicker, goopier mixture.

All the recipes make 6-8 pancakes depending on their size.

Apple, maple and bacon pancakes

Step one

Whisk together the flour and baking powder and make a well in the middle for the egg.

The way to make smooth pancakes is to whisk little circles to gradually include the flour. Slowly add the milk a third at a time and continue making circles until all the flour is mixed in.

Step two

Grate the apple until you get to the core and add to the pancake batter.

Step three

Using a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil, fry the pancakes until you start to see lots of little bubbles on the surface.

FLIP FLIP FLIP.

Step four

If you’re wanting bacon with this (and unless you’re a vegetarian, you are wanting bacon) then you’ll want to have that grilling or frying off at the same time.

Right. One down, two to go.

White chocolate and raspberry pancakes

Step one

Refer to step one of apple, maple and bacon recipe.

Step two

Chop the white chocolate into smallish chunks.

Step three

Stir the raspberries and chocolate into the batter. I squashed a few of them with the back of the spoon.

Step four

Cook em off.

You will find this mix a little runnier than the last one from a combo of the raspberry juice and the melting white chocolate.

Step five

Put the dark chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave and melt gradually, 20-30 seconds at a time.

Step six

Stack them, cover in dark chocolate, enjoy.

Banana and blueberry buttermilk almond pancakes

Step one

Repeat the usual step one, you’re a pro by now. This time the buttermilk rather than the milk will make a thicker texture. Don’t forget to include the almond extract.

Step two

Spoon a pancake into the pan and place slices of banana and some blueberries onto the surface. Push them down a little so they don’t fall out when you flip them.

Step three

Pour some honey and natural yoghurt on top.

Eat until you can’t move.

February 1, 2015

Scrub-a-dub-dub

Welcome back chaps, I hope you had a lovely weekend and are now stuffed full of last week’s roulade.

This week’s post is a little more January friendly – it doesn’t involve eating and will help save a few pennies too. Since the Christmas drinks specials season came to an end I’ve been missing a certain honey and almond hot chocolate and planning to concoct something with those flavours for fabrefaction. I didn’t expect it to not be for consumption but there you go.

I thought it would be fun to give some favours the ladies who came to our little sleepover last week. This scrub is a great little gift on the cheap and would work well for favours for a hen party/bridal shower or similar.

You will need

2 cups Demerara sugar

1 cup Granulated sugar

1/4 cup Walnut oil

1/2 cup Sunflower/vegetable oil

1/2 cup Clear honey

2 tsp Almond extract

(Makes six small jars)

Step one

There really only is one step. I couldn’t even think of a gif this week.

Take all the ingredients and mix them together.

Step two

If you’re gifting these then you might want to use little ramekins or jars. I recommend something with a lid to be honest, I used cellophane to seal the scrub in. I’ll be honest, this was with mixed success – just keep them upright if you go for this option to stop the oil leaking.

Step three

Using paper or fabric (I thought brown paper added nicely to the natural look and feel) cover the pots.

Make sure it;s a larger piece than required. Fasten with a loom band (find a small child who’s become bored of them and pinch a few).

Step four

Trim the edges of the paper or fabric. If using fabric I recommend pinking shears for the job to stop it fraying.

Step five

Tie a nice piece of string/twine/ribbon around the rim to cover the loom band. Depending on the size of the jar you might want to tie a small wooden spoon to it at this point (the scrub settles and needs a little stir before use).

I left the spoons loose because they looked novelty big in comparison to the jar. If you’re in the UK I got these from Tiger.

Happy scrubbing!

January 26, 2015

It’d be roulade not to…

I promise next week will be more diet friendly. Well, actually I don’t. I really like food, and the sweeter the better as far as I’m concerned.

Last week we had some buddies round for a sleepover and I couldn’t resist making a naughty pud. This salted caramel chocolate mousse filled roulade is the perfect edition to a girls’ night in, or a dinner party, or breakfast.

Buckle up, it’s not a speedy bake, but it’s worth it.

You will need

For the sponge:

130g/4.5 oz Caster sugar

100g/3.5 oz Plain flour

4 Eggs

35g/1.5 oz Cocoa powder

For the chocolate mousse:

200g/7 oz Dark chocolate

3 Eggs

40g/1.5 oz Caster sugar (golden if you have it)

90ml/3 fl oz Water

For the salted caramel frosting:

300g/10.5 oz Icing sugar

250g/9 oz Butter

80g/3 oz Soft brown sugar

100ml/3.5 fl oz Double cream

2 tbsp Golden syrup

2 tsp Salt

Step one

Sift together the cocoa powder and flour. Usually I’m not one of life’s sifters, but for this one you’ll want to; you don’t want to knock out all the air trying to get the lumps out of the flour.

Step two

Whisk the four eggs until they are pale and shiny and so that the tracks of the whisk stay for a few seconds before sinking back into the main mixture.

Step three

Gently fold the flour and cocoa powder mix in two halves. Do this with a metal spoon and imagine you are stirring a bowl of baby kittens. Softly.

Ideally I guess it should all be one colour, but mine was still a little marbled and it didn’t seem to impact the bake.

Step four

Slowly pour batter evenly across a lined tin. Mine’s not actually a swiss roll tin, it’s a bit bigger. Try not to knock any air out.

Step five

Tilt the tin to distribute the sponge mix as evenly as possible and get it right into the corners. You want to avoid spreading it with anything but you do need it to be as flat as possible on the surface. There’s no fat in this recipe to melt down and level everything off.

p.s. the GIF makes it look quicker than it is, be patient.

Step six

Bake in a preheated oven on 220C/ gas mark 7/ 450F for 10 minutes.

Step seven

While the sponge is in the oven, dust a sheet of greaseproof paper with icing sugar.

Step eight

As soon as it’s finished cooking turn the sponge out onto the paper.

Cut a small groove about 1cm in from the edge to start the roll. Place another sheet of greaseproof on top and roll the cake up. Leave it to one side to cool.

Step nine

Move onto the mousse. In fact, probably do the mousse first, it needs a while to chill.

Separate the three eggs into two bowls and finely chop the chocolate.

Step ten

Place the chocolate and 90ml water in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then stir in the egg yolks. The mixture will become thicker and should be glossy.

Step eleven

Whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks, add the caster sugar and whisk again until combined. You should be able to turn the bowl upside-down without it all falling out.

Step twelve

Place a spoonful of egg white into the chocolate and stir quickly to loosen the chocolate mix. Then add the rest and gently fold in with a metal spoon.

Put in the fridge for an hour or two, the longer the better really.

Step thirteen

Make the salted caramel for the buttercream by melting together 100g of the butter, the brown sugar, golden syrup and salt. Do this slowly and then bring the heat up to a simmer.

Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir regularly so that it doesn’t catch and burn. Leave to cool down for about half an hour or so.

If you think you’ve seen this before, you have, this is about the 5th time I’ve used this salted caramel recipe.

Step fourteen

Once the caramel has cooled down a bit, stir in the 100ml of cream. Set to one side and make the buttercream.

Step fifteen

With an electric whisk beat together the rest of the butter and the icing sugar. Cover with a tea towel to begin with, or you will wind up looking like a cloud.

Step sixteen

Add the salted caramel to the buttercream and whisk. Voila. Place in fridge for at least 15 minutes until cooled completely.

Step seventeen

Once the chocolate mousse is set get ready to assemble.

Unroll the sponge and spread a layer of caramel over the surface. I didn’t use all the buttercream so go with what feels right. I used the rest of it up on some cupcakes. Apparently I want my housemates to be obese.

If you’re wondering why mine looks darker than yours it’s because I used dark soft brown sugar and cooked it for too long.

Step eighteen

Spread the mousse over, try to keep air in it if you want, but you’ll abandon all hope fairly soon.

Step nineteen

Using the greaseproof paper roll the roulade up. Now. I probably didn’t get my first bit tight enough, but regardless, this bit ain’t pretty. Just do it, put it on a chopping board/tray put it back in the fridge and don’t think about it.

Seriously. The mousse will splurge ~~a lot~~ a bit. Pretend it never happened.

Step twenty

After about an hour or so in the fridge the mousse will have firmed up again. You can take it out, wipe away any excess filling and dust some more icing sugar over it.

Yeah. Enjoy that my friend.

January 12, 2015

A bit of bread and butter

Hi there. Welcome back.

This week a cheap and cheerful bake was on the cards for everyone out there cutting costs this January. The perfect pudding to blast away those winter blues. I apologise in advance for laughing in the face of all your 2015 diets, but if you’re going to break them, this is a great way to do so.

This recipe is ideal for people who doubt their skills in the kitchen, I’ll be seriously impressed if you managed to mess this one up. Send me photos if you do.

You will need

For the pudding:

500ml/17 fl oz Double cream

100ml/3.5 fl oz Condensed milk

2 Eggs

Vanilla pod/2 tsp Vanilla extract

100g/3.5 oz Dark/Milk chocolate

50g/2 oz Soft brown sugar

6 – 8 Slices white bread (let’s be honest, you will need to get a loaf anyway, and I wasn’t counting properly)

3 Bananas

Butter for spreading

Ramekins if you’re feeling a bit posh.

For the salted caramel:

100g/3.5 oz Salted butter

80g/3 oz Soft brown sugar

100ml/3.5 fl oz Double cream

2 tbsp Golden syrup

2 tsp Salt

(Makes 6)

Step one

Whisk together the cream, condensed milk, vanilla and eggs. Set aside, and try not to think about how much cream that was.

Step two

Butter the bread slices generously. I just used regular spreadable butter for this, but if you’re a purest you could buy unsalted.

Using a cutter that’s the same diameter as your ramekins, cut circles out of the bread. Chop the offcuts into small pieces and leave to one side.

Step three

Slice the banana into thin pieces and chop the chocolate into small chunks (as if I haven’t said it enough – a bread knife is the best way to do this).

Step four

Assemble!

Butter the ramekins and layer up the puddings. Bread, banana, chocolate, sugar, repeat. Finish the last layer with bread using the offcuts and sprinkle some caster sugar on top, this will make a lovely crisp topping.

Step five

Once all the ramekins are layered up, pour the custard mixture on top, try to fill them evenly.

Leave to sit for 20 minutes to let the custard soak into the bread.

Step six

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 35 minutes on 180C/350F/gas mark 4.

Step seven

While you are baking the puddings, place all the ingredients for the salted caramel into a saucepan (minus the cream).

Heat gently until melted and then bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir regularly so that it doesn’t catch and burn. Leave to cool for about half an hour.

Step eight

Once cooled, stir in the 100ml double cream.

Not the prettiest things but they aren’t too shabby to eat. Bon apetit!

January 5, 2015

Miniature carb loading

So. Guys. 2015 happened. Happy New Year to you all!

Probably the last thing all you resolution makers need is this blog post. Just know that deep down I support your diet, but if you ever want to fall off the wagon in a carb-tacular way, I’m here for you, holding mini filled potato skins.

These bitesize chaps were more of the nibbles I made for Matt and Vicky’s party and they disappeared pretty quickly, despite being a bit of a random addition to the table. I know Vicky’s brother has been waiting on tenterhooks for this blog post. Edward, apologies for the delay.

You will need

15 New potatoes

3 Rashers of smoked bacon (or a couple of spring onions if you’re a veggie)

300ml Sour cream

100g/5 oz Red Leicester/Double Gloucester/Cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper

Step one

Using the finest setting on your grater grate the cheese so you’re ready to go. The last thing you need is hold ups preventing you from eating these sooner.

Cook the bacon until crispy and trim into tiny tiny pieces. Scissors are key.

Step two

Put the new potatoes in a roasting tin with a blob of butter and cook on gas mark 6/200C/400F for 45 minutes. Keep an eye on them, but honestly, I’d like to meet a man who has managed to overcook a jacket potato.

Step three

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle cut them in half and scoop out the potato inside. Get as much out as you can without ripping the skins. Place the empty skins back into the roasting tin in a somewhat orderly fashion.

Step four

Add 150-200ml of the sour cream to the potato and season. Mash until smooth/you loose the will to make filled potato skins at all. But seriously though, don’t give up, that’s the key to smooth mash.

You might need to add a little more sour cream, but save some for dipping.

Step five

Stir in the bacon.

Step six

Avoid the urge to just eat mix with a spoon. Or does everyone else not love mashed potato as much as me?

Step seven

Refill the potato skins and sprinkle the cheese on top.

Step eight

Put back into the oven until they are fully reheated and the cheese has melted.

Step nine

Eat all thirty before anyone else arrives.

December 29, 2014

Munchies

A while back I started a small ‘series’ courtesy of Matt and Vicky’s engagement party. I didn’t get very far, because Christmas. Sorry about that. In case you haven’t seen it, the first post is here.

So, in honour of NYE and the parties you’ll all be throwing and in need of nibbles for, here’s a couple of quick and easy last minute bites for the table: some sausage wheels and cheese puff pastry bites.

There’s a lot of cheating in this recipe. I’m not one for making my own puff pastry. Apparently I’m not even one for seasoning my own food now either.

You will need

500g packet of puff pastry

400g/ 14oz of sausage meat (I bought packet of pre-seasoned/flavoured stuff from Waitrose. Zero regrets)

75g/ 2.5oz grated parmesan

1 egg

A generous pinch of salt

Step one

Divide pastry into halves.

Step two

Roll out one of the halves until it’s about a centimetre thick.

Step three

Sprinkle half the parmesan onto the pastry. Fold it into thirds and roll out a little. Fold into thirds again in the opposite direction and roll again until square.

Be careful not to over work it.

Step four

Cut into small rectangles and twist to make little bow tie looking shapes. If my ailing memory serves me correctly I believe this made around 25-30.

Step five

Place on a baking tray and sprinkle with more parmesan and some salt.

Bake on 180C/ gas mark 4/ 350F for about 45 minutes. You need to keep an eye on them as they can look done on the outside and not be cooked the whole way through.

Step six

Roll out the second half of the pastry until it’s about 5mm thick.

Step seven

Spread the sausage meat out across the surface of the pastry. Leave a gap of 1-2cm on the long edge.

Step eight

Whisk the egg in a small bowl with a fork. Using a pastry brush (or your clean fingers) spread the egg along the gap you left in step seven.

Step nine

Roll the pastry up, the egg should help the edge to seal.

Step ten

Cut slices of the sausage about 1.5cm thick.

Step eleven

Place on a greased baking tray and cook with the cheese bites.

Step twelve

Serve fresh from the oven and try not to eat them all before the guests arrive.

December 24, 2014

Ginger breading fun 2014

Hello again. Just a little post with some photos of this year’s gingerbread house. I said back in this post that I would start to theme them, which I’m afraid I didn’t have the inspiration for in the end, but it does have a balcony which was my engineering feat of the year.

For those of you looking to squeeze a bit of gingerbread house making into what’s left of Christmas eve, other than needing your head examining, you might find the posts I did last year useful:

#1: Gingerbread house recipe

#2: How to assemble a gingerbread house

#3: Tips for decorating a gingerbread house

Now for the good bit…

Gingerbread house 2014

Have a wonderful Christmas all 

December 15, 2014

Grown up milk and cookies

In England we tend to leave Santa a sherry or a brandy and a mince pie. I’ve heard that in some Scandinavian countries he gets ‘treated’ to porridge…lucky guy. Well this post is a nod to our North American friends from whom Santa receives milk and cookies. I decided to jazz up the traditional a little, after all, you hard working parents deserve a little more than a glass of milk on the 24th.

I should start off by saying that the recipe leans more towards a sort of whoopie pie consistency than a cookie, a whookie if you’d like. Perhaps if you wanted to commit to whoopie pies you could sandwich them with the salted caramel buttercream I made a couple of months back.

Without further ado here’s an easy Bailey’s (Irish cream) cocktail (which is more like a pudding really) and triple chocolate Mars Bar whookies.

You will need

260g/9 oz Plain flour

150g/5.5 oz Soft dark brown sugar

100g/3.5 oz Unsalted butted

100g/3.5 oz White chocolate chips

40g/1.5 oz Cocoa powder

50-100g/2-3.5 oz Dark chocolate

3 Eggs

3 Mars Bars

1.5 tsp Baking powder

1 tbsp Full fat milk

For the Bailey’s cocktail

Bailey’s Irish Cream

Chocolate milk

50g/2 oz Dark chocolate

Rum/Brandy if you have some (I went without)

A sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg

Step one

Chop the Mars bars into small chunks.

If you, like me, can’t control yourself around chocolate, you might want to add an extra one to the mix. There’s just something about chopped up Mars bar that is excessively moorish.

Step two

Combine all the dry ingredients (minus the chocolate) in a large bowl.

Step three

Make a well in the middle and add the eggs, milk and butter. Stir to combine. Ideally your butter will be room temperature, otherwise you’ll be mixing for a while.

Step four

Add the white chocolate and Mars bar and mix again until the chips and chunks are evenly distributed.

Step five

Drop dessert spoonfuls of the mixture onto baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. They won’t spread too much so flatten down a bit.

Step six

Bake on 180C/gas mark 4/350 F for about 15-20 minutes.

Step seven

Leave to cool and then melt the dark chocolate and drizzle over the top.

Step eight

Melt the remaining dark chocolate in a small bowl and dip your glasses in to coat the rim.

Step nine

Add a shot of Baileys (and a dash of rum if you have it). A sprinkle of both cinnamon and nutmeg. Top up with approx 150ml of chocolate milk.

As you can probably tell, I didn’t exactly measure this one out, so go with your taste as a measure.

Step ten

Leave out for Santa.

December 8, 2014

Little pudding

This week two celebrations collided when my lovely teacher at college had a special birthday and we crept ever closer to the 25th December. Thankfully, teach didn’t mind the seasonally confused gift – Happy Birthday Lana!

This week it’s Christmas pudding truffles, surprisingly easy to make, and with a large yield they are perfect for last minute gifts on a budget.

You will need

300g/10.5 oz Dark chocolate

100g/3.5 oz White chocolate

300ml/10.5 fl oz Double cream

30g/1 oz Unsalted butter

Red sprinkles

Cocoa and caster sugar for dusting

(Makes 60-70)

Step one

Chop the dark chocolate finely using a bread knife. Resist the urge to eat it all.

Step two

Heat the cream and butter gently in a saucepan. Wait until it starts to bubble and steam dances across the surface. There is no need to let it boil, as Mary Berry always says – chocolate melts in a child’s pocket.

Step three

Take the cream off the heat and whisk into the chocolate until fully melted. Place in the fridge to speed up the setting process.

Step four

Check regularly on the truffle mix, don’t let it harden fully. Once a spoonful holds its shape when dropped onto the rest of the mixture it’s pipe-able.

Place into a piping bag, and, holding it perpendicular to the greaseproof paper (which you have put down as instructed, um, nowhere in this post) squeeze downwards. Don’t worry if these are a bit misshapen, it’s just to make sure they’re roughly the same size.

Step five

Pipe pipe pipe.

Leave to set a bit longer, preferably with a window open to cool the truffle down quickly. The truffles won’t thank your winter central heating.

Step six

When the truffles are set roll them into balls. You will need fairly cold hands for this, so rinse them in cold water.

Step seven

Dust the truffles in cocoa and caster sugar. I mixed these at random so I’m not sure on quantities, but I used about two thirds caster sugar to a third cocoa powder.

I dusted as I rolled, as hands warm the outside of the truffles so the caster sugar will stick.

Step eight

Melt the white chocolate slowly in the microwave, pipe little splodges and drop some red sprinkles on top. I got these from Sainsbury’s, so not too hard to track down.

Leave the white chocolate to set and pack away your truffles into little bags or boxes and spread the Christmas (or Birthday) cheer!